Aleksandar Božić

UNDP & Researcher at Association of Social Workers, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Topic of the paper:A Two Way Ticket: Return Migration of Tertiary (Post)Graduates As A Potential Channel of the Gain Brain Process in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Research interests:migration (highly skilled migration, foster migration and related social and economic transformations) and social policy and practice (child and family welfare/ juvenile justice, community mental health, community based interventions and support system, non-profit human service organisations, social safety nets).

Olga Popova

Postdoctoral Researcher, Institute for East and Southeast European Studies (IOS), Regensburg, Germany
Junior Researcher, Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education – Economics Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic (CERGE-EI), Prague, Czech Republic

Topic of the paper:Life (Dis)satisfaction and Decision to Migrate: Evidence from Central and Eastern Europe

Martina Sekulová

Research Fellow, Institute for Public Affairs, Bratislava, Institute of Ethnology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Culture Anthropolgy, Department of Ethnology and Culture Anthropology Comenius University Bratislava

Topic of the paper:It Is Not a Choice, It Is a Must: Family and Gender Implications of Elder Care on Migration from Slovakia to Austria

Magdalena Slavkova

Research Associate in the Balkan Ethnology Department, Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Studies at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences PhD in Ethnology

Topic of the paper:Bulgarians and Gypsies in the Mediterranean countries: migratory experiences and multi-belonging

Research interests:Romani communities, identities and religion, the influence of the trans-border migration on the Romani intergroup social organization, and also the way of life of Bulgarian citizens in Mediterranean countries.

Karolis Žibas

Topic of the paper:Immigration Processes in Lithuania: Social Developments of Chinese and Turkish Immigrant Groups

Research interests:contemporary migration processes: new patterns of migration in CEE after EU enlargement, immigration and integration policies and measures, labour migration and migrant integration processes, development of monitoring indicators on migrant groups in Lithuania.

"The Fellowship has pushed me to climb further ladders in my research career and it has been eye opener for discovering aspects of reforms happening in our societies that are worth researching and worth promulgating to wider public. Applying to the ERSTE Fellowship was a small step that I did; but it turned out to be a giant leap forward for embedding myself in circles that research transformation of the contemporary world."